


Meet in the Middle

by DangersUntoldHardshipsUnnumbered, thebraveandthebroiled



Series: Faye County, Georgia [3]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-05-28 18:20:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19399756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DangersUntoldHardshipsUnnumbered/pseuds/DangersUntoldHardshipsUnnumbered, https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebraveandthebroiled/pseuds/thebraveandthebroiled
Summary: Y'all may recall a pleasant little ride of a fic called "Stuck on You" from last year.  You were promised a number of spin-offs and sequels. This would be the first of those.Welcome back to Faye County, GA. Where everything is very Southern, except when it's not.  ;)Please enjoy the accompanying playlist here:Black Coffee and Sticky Buns





	1. Typical Tuesday

Alex was bouncing a small alien child on her knee.

His name was Kovo. You wouldn’t spot him for an alien. His people looked pretty human, fortunately for everyone involved. The boy was playing idly with a lock of her short hair while she spoke to his father, Divo. “And how have the nightmares been?” 

Divo shrugged. “I still have them. I haven’t broken anything in a while though.” 

Alex nodded. “Post-traumatic stress is very hard to deal with on your own. I can keep coming and giving you sedatives for those times when it gets real bad, but I really would like it if you would consider seeing the DEO’s therapist.” She really hoped he would. When he got real out of hand, Alex sometimes needed to bring Kara in to settle him down enough to sedate him.

Divo frowned. “The brain doctor?” 

Alex nodded. “The brain doctor.”

“No brain doctor,” he said firmly. 

Alex sighed. “Look, it’s just someone to talk to who has experience in helping people recover from very traumatic experiences. And I’d say that being the only survivors of your village and surviving in secret on a remote planet definitely count as traumatic.” 

Kavo made a funny little whistling sound. 

Divo’s wife Yava patted his arm. “It was always difficult to get him to go to a doctor.” 

Alex smiled. “I understand. But please consider it. I promise you, Dr. Vera is very good. Everyone really seems to like working with her.” 

Divo looked hesitant. “I’ll think about it.” 

A foot in the door. Good. “Alright, thank you. Think about it. We’ll talk more next time. You planning to come work on the farm this week at all?” 

He nodded. “Eliza has scheduled me for Thursday and Friday.” 

Kavo made another whistling sound, this time louder.

Yava looked at him with concern. “Agent Danvers, perhaps you shouldn’t bounce Kavo quite so-”

She didn’t finish the thought because Kavo spit up on Alex’s lap.

Alex sighed. “No big deal,” she assured the child, nudging him off her lap. 

Yava ran to the kitchen area and grabbed a raggedy hand towel and handed it to Alex. “I’m so sorry, he doesn’t always do so well with motion.”

Alex did her best to wipe the little puddle of wet, sticky pink vomit off her jeans. She didn’t ask what he’d been eating. 

She smiled briskly and stood up. “Not my first time being puked on. Probably won’t be my last. Anyway, I probably will be on the road the days you’re at the farm, but if not, maybe I’ll see you.” 

They shared a respectful nod, and Alex picked up her medical bag and left the small shack on the outskirts of town. 

The Danvers family employed a few of the DEO’s placement cases, since the family farm was large enough to warrant having some extra hands, especially during harvest seasons. The DEO, at least in this part of the world, was primarily concerned with keeping friendly alien visitors safe and off the rest of the world’s radar. Alex had certainly done her share of commando-style ops, but most of her job was administering medicines, tending minor injuries, performing impromptu family therapy sessions, and making sure her charges were showing up to work on time and that they were getting their immunizations and so forth.

Her boss, J’onn, had suggested that her talents might be better used at one of the DEO’s urban locations, where the hostile activity was thicker and the population of friendlies was denser and more needy. But Alex had done college in Metropolis, and nothing about it worked for her. She needed to be back on red clay roads and breathing the smell of the long leaf pine.

As she rolled up the long dirt driveway to the farmhouse, she saw her mother standing on the porch. “You’re just in time,” Eliza called to her, “Moses is in a mood.”

Alex sighed. “Where is he?” 

“He’s in the paddock, but he’s been butting at the fence.” 

Alex hopped out of her truck and nodded toward her mother, and jogged out to the paddock behind the barn. 

Moses was standing at the split rail fence, pushing against it in a manner that suggested he was not entirely serious, but not entirely unserious, either. Alex walked through the thin grass and drew near to the fence. She looked at the family’s large, brown and white spotted paint horse and smiled at him. “Hey, Moses. What’s going on with you today?” 

Moses tossed his head a couple of times at her. 

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh, it’s like that, huh?” 

Moses whuffled, and pushed his chest against the fence a little. 

Alex tsked. “Now what’s gotten into you?” She came closer to him and put her hands on either side of his long face, looking at him very seriously. “You’ve got Eliza a little concerned about your behavior, mister.” She reached into her jeans pocket and found a few remaining flakes of dry oats. She proffered them in her palm. 

Moses tossed his mane a little and then began licking the oats out of her hand. After a moment, he began to settle down.

“Good boy,” she soothed. “Why, you’re acting almost like–”

She paused as she heard a motor coming up the long driveway. She stopped and turned around to see the sheriff’s car rolling up the drive. She sighed.  _ What now? _

The driver’s door opened, and Sheriff Maggie Sawyer slid out, sauntering up like she had all the time in the world. Moses looked up and began whuffling and tossing his head again. 

Alex cussed under breath. “God dangit Maggie, I just got Moses settled down. You know he doesn’t like you.” 

Maggie gave her a lazy smile. “His loss.” She kept her distance, but tipped her hat in the horse’s direction. “Afternoon, Moses.” 

Continuing to absently stroke Moses’s muzzle, Alex looked at Maggie. “What’d you want?” 

Maggie shrugged. “Had some slightly suspect activity down at the diner off Route 90, wondered if you had any rogue cases that I might need to know about.” 

Alex shook her head. “Nope, everyone’s accounted for at the moment.” She narrowed her eyes. “But why’d you come out here? You coulda just called me.” 

Maggie’s eyes were big and dark and soft and they still looked at Alex like she was the sweetest thing in five counties. “I just wanted to see how you’re doing.” 

“Well I had to clean alien baby vomit off my jeans and my horse is acting up for no reason.”

“So, typical Tuesday.”

Alex sighed. “I … you don’t need to check up on me, Maggie. I’m fine.” It had been a good six months since Alex and the very attractive Sheriff of Faye County had parted ways. 

Maggie nodded. “I know you are, Miss Danvers. You’re a very strong woman.” 

They’d been ready to spend the rest of their lives together, until Alex came down firm on wanting children and Maggie had come down even firmer on not. As much in love as they’d been, it was no good. 

Alex swallowed, feeling very raw all at once. Maggie, mercifully knowing her, changed topic. “How’s Kara?”

Alex smiled. “She’s good. She met some city girl she’s lost her damn mind over, but it’s going alright.” 

A tiny beagle came bounding around the paddock and ran up to Maggie, yapping excitedly. Moses had never been a fan of hers, but Krypto had. Maggie crouched down and scratched him behind the ears and pushed him around while he nipped playfully at her hands and cuffs. 

“Hey c’mon, Krypto!” Alex complained. “Straight-up traitor is what you are, dog.” He was supposedly the family’s dog, but really, he was Alex’s.

Krypto stopped, gave Alex a guilty look, and then pranced over and started pawing at the fence where Moses stood. 

Maggie smiled. “No, he just has good taste. And so do you.” 

Alex smiled. It was all still a little bittersweet. 

“So, glad to hear Kara’s got someone,” Maggie went on. “What about you? You seeing anyone?” 

Alex shook her head. Before Maggie could get all regretful and sympathetic, Alex changed topics again. “So, you know, if you want me to get a team down to look at anything at the diner…”

Maggie nodded. “I’d appreciate your personal attention if you wouldn’t mind.” 

Alex gestured vaguely. “Like always.” 

“I’ll send you the photos and everything.” 

They stood there looking at each other, hands in pockets, and then opted for an awkward hug. Alex, despite her best efforts, squeezed her tighter than she should have, but Maggie smelled like cedar and gun oil and Alex couldn’t help herself. Maggie squeezed back. 

Then Alex watched her make her way back to the car. 

  
  
  


******

  
  


Kara was out with that Lena Luthor, a damn pretty girl even if she was a Coastie. Alex was pretty sure she’d heard them say something about the peach festival that morning as she was getting her things together to go out and check on Divo. She didn’t feel like waiting for Kara to get back from dropping Lena at ATL after that, so she went ahead and fixed up a sandwich with some of the leftover barbecued chicken in the fridge. 

Kara had met Lena Luthor out of the clear blue one day not too long ago when Lena’s rental car had run out of gas in the Danvers’ driveway. Pretty rich girl might as well have fallen out of the sky. Alex reckoned she wasn’t ever going to be quite that lucky.

She sat on the porch of the house she and Kara shared, which sat on a small lot on the Danvers farm. It was a modest white clapboard house with two bedrooms upstairs. She had her feet up on a milk crate and was nursing a whiskey. Sundown was the best time to sit on the porch with a whiskey, feeling sorry for yourself. She’d reached this conclusion after having tried it at various times of the day. Science was important. 

She heard the shifting of the air that meant her sister was about to land, and seconds later, the thud and the smell of disturbed dirt and dust when her booted feet struck the ground next to the house. 

“Flew back, eh?” 

Kara strolled up the creaky steps. “Yup. You kidding? I’m not about to sit in Atlanta traffic if I don’t have to.” 

“Your girlfriend have a good time?” Alex asked. She didn’t resent Kara’s happiness, but she sure did wish she could get a little taste of it for herself.

“I don’t know if she’s my girlfriend,” Kara hedged.

Alex gave her a pained look as if to say,  _ You idiot _ . “How many times do you two talk in a week?”

Kara shrugged. “Not every day. But a lot.”

“How many times d’you have phone sex?”

“None of your damn business.”

“I made sure to take a long time at Divo’s, I hope y’all had fun.”

Kara grinned. “We did.” Alex knew this probably meant sex upstairs, sex downstairs, and maybe sex on the back porch.

Alex smiled. Her sister was a grade A, certified dipshit. “That girl is crazy about you.”

Kara snorted. “Bah.”

“She is. And I ain’t seen you this fuckin’ goofy over someone since Sam.” Kara had dated a pretty girl named Sam from two towns over, but Sam had a little girl and she’d felt she couldn’t hold up a romance and a kid at the same time.

Kara put her feet up on a neighboring milk crate. Alex could faintly hear that Moses was pitching at the paddock gate again. Goddamn horse, what was wrong with him?

She noticed a bright white light in the sky, very small at first, but it seemed to be growing larger. Kara seemed to have noticed it too. “Alex,” she whispered, “what in heck is that?”

“I don’t know,” Alex whispered back. “Maybe it’s a helicopter?”

Kara watched. It wasn’t moving like a helicopter. “I dunno…”

The light grew, and grew closer. It was clearly attached to something that was flying, intending to land right here, on this property. It hovered over the corn maze that Kara had cut only a few days prior, and after a moment, decided to set itself down there.

“See?” Kara murmured distantly. “You made fun of my crop circles.”

“Yeah,” Alex muttered back. She reached underneath a floorboard on the porch and took out a shotgun. “Congratulations, you get to say you told me so.”


	2. Bollywood and Ghosts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some time earlier, in space....

“Another Kozali ale,” Astra grunted at the bartender. 

The insectoid bartender extended one of his triple-jointed tarsi and drew off the purple, foaming drink that left a trail of iridescent bubbles in the air as he slid it across the bar to her. “You’re running a bit of a tab, lady,” he commented. “Who’s buying?” 

Dame Xantia, Eldest Sister of the Supreme Galactic Order of the Church of Xanthara, slid into a stool beside her. “That’ll be me, Froi.” 

The bartender’s various appendages waved wildly in the air for a moment, seeming overjoyed to see her. “Hey, Dame Xantia! She’s with you?” 

The nun smiled beatifically. “She is, Froi. So please don’t be stingy on the foam. And a shot of Ol’ Janx Spirit for me, if you don’t mind.”

All of this was going on in the periphery of Astra’s attention. She was most engaged with watching the newscast playing on the spaceport bar’s vidscreen, some puff piece about a planet called Earth, and how the human residents’ obsession with extraterrestrials was resulting in them plowing giant incomprehensible glyphs into their fields of crops. 

Xantia patted her shoulder. “Feel better, dear?” 

Astra shrugged. She was only a little drunk. “I am grateful for the Order’s intervention in getting me released from Fort Rozz.” 

Xantia fiddled with her prayer stars. “Well, my child, the whole thing qualified as cruel and unusual punishment. The Church had been fighting with Krypton’s council for half a lifetime to abolish it. Besides, the government against which you were a dissident no longer exists.” 

Astra nodded. “I would do it all again, you know,” she said, and her words slurred a little more than she intended them to. 

Xantia sighed. “Child, you aren’t supposed to tell me that sort of thing.” A shot of Ol’ Janx Spirit appeared in front of her, and she drank. “So. Now that you’re out of prison, and divorced–”

“Thank you for that, by the way.” 

Xantia smiled. “–what will you do?”

Astra shrugged. “I have not decided. I have very little money. I had a few galactic credits stored in the Interstellar Bank but of course Non got half of that in the divorce. I could easily become a soldier of fortune, but I am tired of fighting, and without a cause, I have no heart for it.”

She gazed at the flickering images on the screen over the bar. “ _...and since the Earth has an incredible amount of arable land as compared to many other words of comparable size, the humans have both the means and the opportunity to create such works as this large glyph in a field in the Northern Hemisphere…” _

Xantia nodded. 

Astra almost spit out her ale. She stared at the glyph on the screen, the one that had been cut into the field. It looked for all the world like the Kryptonian symbol for “welcome”. Her heart seized up for a moment, and she pointed a shaking hand at the screen. “Dame Xantia, do you see that?” 

At this point, the barstool spoke. “I’m picking up a sudden spike of stress hormones,” it said cheerfully. “Looks like you could use another drink!”

“Shut up,” Astra snapped at it. 

Xantia nodded. “I do.” 

“This cannot be coincidence,” Astra whispered. 

Xantia squinted at the screen. “Where is that?” 

“Some little backwater called Earth,” Astra said excitedly. “But this is a sign, I am quite sure of it. I must get to Earth.” 

Xantia sighed. “You’ll need a pod. If that’s the place I’m thinking of, it’s on the Western Spiral Arm, so you’ll need a long-distance pod, and one that’s got a linguistics training module. I’m pretty sure nobody speaks Galactic Standard out in the sticks.”

Astra nodded. “I have perhaps 16,000 credits. Do you imagine that would be enough?”

Xantia thought. “Probably not. But due to the Treaty of Xanthas, we can waive the cost of your processing under Article 32 of the Rehoming of Citizens of Lost Worlds. So that’s 5,000 credits that the Church doesn’t have to spend on your processing, so we can throw that your way. And I know a guy who could probably set you up with a used pod that still works. Rations would be tight. But it’s not outside the realm of possibility.”

“Thank Rao,” Astra muttered.

“Xanthara provides,” the nun replied.

“Thank xyr for me.”

“Thank xyr yourself. You could always convert, you know.”

“Not happening.” 

The nun shrugged cheerfully. “You know I had to try.” 

  
  


******

  
  


The pod was a Three Series, only just recently rendered largely, but not entirely, out of date; it had a language module and nutrition unit that the dealer quite openly said was “a little subpar and wouldn’t recommend if you’re looking to go more than fifty, sixty light years.” Astra was going about sixty five, but didn’t really have other choices. Xantia seemed confident that she wasn’t going to do better with another dealer. So, she’d be pushing it, for sure. But she took the pod. Xantia and a couple of other sisters from the Order came to see her off. The last thing she saw before she went under for the journey was Xantia, prayer stars dangling over her squished body in the cockpit, muttering the prayer strings. 

The dreams in the pod-sleep were endless. Astra had the opportunity to relive much of her life, first in Kryptonese, then English, then Spanish, then Mandarin, Hindi, and so on. The pod had chosen those languages based on the makeup of the broadcasts from the planet she was headed to. Earth had a multitude of languages it liked to broadcast in. With a dizzying variety of genres. American Sitcom, Chinese Historical Drama, Telenovela, K-Drama, Bollywood, Anime. She lacked the cultural context to understand the stories that the pod was chopping up and piping into her brain, but she was absorbing. 

She woke up somewhere around Alpha Centauri, feeling vaguely like she wanted to eat or urinate, but since she could do neither of these things, she checked the records of the broadcast she’d watched in the bar. The field she wanted was identified as a farm in the southern part of the North American continent. She set the pod’s cameras to scan for glyphs like it in the region as described, and forced herself to go back to sleep. 

She had a lot of bad memories, she reflected as she lay in the pod-sleep. Reliving them in Chinese period drama didn’t really improve them. The Daxamite Wars were mostly bad memories, despite her having won them decisively. Her years as a dissident were less so, if only because she got married then and they had managed a military wedding shortly before her being stripped of her rank. She looked good in Kryptonian brigadier dress whites, and that period of time, as it turned out, was somewhat improved when relived as a Bollywood musical. 

Her younger years with her sister, Alura, were lovely before they’d had their falling out. And her sweet niece, Kara. Those memories, of the little golden haired imp curling up beside her after she came home from a campaign, those were mostly good, even as a Spanish telenovela.

Of course, all of it was accompanied by the lingering angst of it all being gone.

She woke up again because her stomach was growling. Loudly. 

“Well, that’s no good,” a male voice remarked in English. She couldn’t place why he sounded familiar.

Her eyes snapped open. She wondered if she was dreaming because a man’s face was hovering directly above hers in the pod. She had to go slightly cross eyed to look at him properly, but he looked vaguely familiar.

“I wouldn’t sit up,” he recommended. “It’d just be uncomfortable for both of us.” 

Her eyes switched quickly from side to side. There was no room in this pod for a second person. 

“Half of me’s outside,” he explained. 

That was decidedly unexpected. “How?”

“I’m uh, not really what you’d call corporeal, as such.” 

She blinked. Space ghosts? She’d heard of space madness setting in on long journeys alone. Had she finally gone around the bend? “So what do you want?” She still wasn’t sure she was really awake.

“Well, it’s more a question of what you want.” Her stomach growled again, louder. “If you can take control of this thing, I’d recommend you set it down over in back of that building there so I can get you something to eat.” 

If it was a dream, it was the first one that wasn’t a reliving of things that caused her angst. “Would you mind clearing out?” 

“Yeah, of course. You’ll see it, it’s the only building on the highway.” He vanished.

She sat up, took the controls off of auto. 

“Are you sure you want to do that?” the computer asked. 

“Yes.” 

“You just woke up,” it objected.

“Shut up,” she grunted. 

“Suit yourself.” 

After a moment of Astra pressing the release, the computer skeptically acquiesced and let go of the controls. Astra looked at the instruments and indeed, she was flying low over a sparsely traveled roadway and there was a lone small structure with a reasonably large landing area around it. She made her best guess as to where the back was, and set the pod down. It was the darkest part of the night and a visual landing wasn’t the best idea. The rear struts hit the cement, and the front ones settled into the grass. 

The pod’s computer tsked.

“Close enough,” Astra grunted.

She popped the clear plexi shell open and it yawned backward with an entirely too happy sigh. 

Her new acquaintance was waiting outside, extending a hand. “Here, let me help you out. Been in there a while?” 

She nodded. 

“Legs might be a little surprised, then.” 

She swung her legs over the side of the pod, took his hand, and allowed him to haul her to her feet. He was right. Her legs weren’t inclined to carry her at the moment. She flopped against the side of the pod in hope of remaining standing but it wasn’t going well. She slid down, resisting his efforts to help her, and promptly struck her head on the side of the pod and blacked out.

She woke up again indoors. It was a large brightly lit room lined with tables, and it was entirely empty apart from herself. It seemed like an eatery. A set of doors behind a wood-paneled counter swung open and her apparent benefactor emerged with a plate stacked with something that looked like large, flat cakes and little strips of something unidentifiable. In his other hand was a steaming cup of something dark. He set both on the table in front of her. 

“What is it?” Her stomach twisted and rumbled in her gut. It didn’t really care what it was. 

“Food,” he said, winking. “Eat it. It’s good, I promise.” 

She looked around. “Is this your establishment?” 

He smiled. “Might as well be.” 

She didn’t understand. “I don’t have Earth currency.” 

He nodded. “It's alright. This is a no reservations kind of place. This meal’s on the house. So, eat, enjoy, and then I’ll point you the right way.” 

She nodded. “Thank you.” 

He picked up a little pitcher of something else, and began pouring it over the cakes. “You’ll want some of this. Maple syrup.” She watched the golden brown liquid dribble slowly over the plate. He produced a small metal pitcher of something else. “Milk for the coffee.” 

“Do I want that?” 

He shrugged. “Try it without and see if you like it.” 

She pointed to the little strips of what looked like meat. “And this… flat meat?”

“Flat meat,” he chuckled. “Yeah. Bacon. You definitely want bacon.” She stuffed a whole piece into her mouth. It was salty. Greasy. Wonderful. Sustenance. “I’ve been all over this planet and eaten all kinds of crazy stuff that you would never believe but god, sometimes there’s nothing like some nice, crispy bacon.”

“Delicious,” she mumbled around a mouthful.

He chuckled again. “Yup. Say, you better eat some of those pancakes, your stomach may not be thrilled about bacon first thing.”

Astra dug into the soft, fluffy cakes and shoveled a large portion into her mouth. They were light, sweet, sticky and were a little bit crisp around the edges. 

“My name’s Anthony. What do I call you?” her benefactor inquired.

“Astra.”

He nodded. “Nice name. Where you from?” 

She looked warily at him. 

He grinned. “It’s ok. You’re clearly not from around here, given that you showed up in a spaceship. And who’m I gonna tell? I’m a ghost.”

“Fair point. I’m from Krypton.” 

He smiled broadly. “I think I know just where you want to go.” 


	3. Welcome to Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keep your eye out for the crossover character cameos! :)

Alex pointed at the unconscious woman crumpled at Kara’s feet. “Wanna explain that?”

Kara hugged her arms around her broad shoulders for a moment, then turned to Alex, looking confused and guilty. “That’s my Aunt Astra.”

Alex frowned. “The one your mom sent to jail?”

Kara nodded. 

“Great,” Alex grumbled. “An interstellar ex-con.” 

Kara sighed. “Alex, she’s not gonna steal the silverware!” 

Alex was about as happy to see another new relative as she was anytime Kara’s cousin showed up. Rationally, she knew this was selfish. Kara was the child of a lost world. Any new family was proof of her not being alone in the universe. But Alex also had put in her time carting Kara to therapies and coaxing her down from trees and rooftops back in the beginning when she’d first arrived, and people showing up out of nowhere and calling themselves “family” had a way of setting her on edge. 

She stood outside near the small pod, which hovered out over the middle of Kara’s crop circle. She wondered how they were going to maneuver it into the barn. So, while Kara carried her aunt inside to set her down in the hayloft, Alex was leaning into the body of the pod, looking at the controls, and wondering why it smelled vaguely like pancakes and bacon.

When her sister re-emerged, still looking a little shaken, they stood in front of the thing for a few moments. “So?” Kara asked.

Alex shrugged. “I think we push it like a broke down car if we can, get it into the shed behind your lab, and power it down so that it doesn’t give us any surprises.”

So, with the pod still hovering about a foot above the field, Alex took the nose and did her best to direct it while Kara pushed from the back, and they quietly glided it back to the empty shed behind Kara’s barn lab. They wiped their hands on their jeans and looked at each other. 

“So?” Alex asked. “Are you gonna be okay?” 

Kara smiled wanly. “I can handle her. It’s fine.” 

Alex nodded, not entirely convinced. “Alright. Well, I’m gonna call J’onn and start getting things in motion for new arrival processing.” 

Kara groaned. “Ugghh, paperwork.” 

“What’re you bellyaching about, I’m the one that’s gonna be filling it out!” She climbed up the ladder, and looked at the sleeping woman in the hayloft. The light was dim, Alex could see she was built just like Kara; long legs, broad shoulders, that recognizable strong jaw. Her hair was dark and streaked with white in one spot. 

“Alright, quit ogling and do what you gotta do.”

They punched each other in the shoulder and then Alex hugged her, and trudged back toward the house. “I’m calling J’onn and then going to bed. Call me if you need me.”

Eliza and Jeremiah were asleep, so she called her boss first. 

He picked up on the third ring. “I’m assuming it’s a big deal at this hour, Agent,” was his answer.

“Yes, sir, you could say so. New arrival. Kryptonian. Kara’s long lost aunt.” 

J’onn grunted. “I see. Threat level?”

Alex hesitated. “Low, far as I can tell. She’s sleeping right now, actually. And Kara says she can contain her if anything goes sideways.” 

“Alright. Plan for a morning processing, then. No need to drag everyone out of bed now.” 

“Thanks, sir.” 

Her next call was her best friend, Susan, who also worked for the DEO. 

“Al. What’s up?”

“Kara’s long-lost aunt just showed up in a long-distance hibernation pod.” 

Susan whistled. “The ex-con?” 

Alex sighed. “Yeah.” 

“Is she hot?”

“Suze, come on!”

“What? Is she?”

Alex floundered. “I don’t know, it was dark. I’m bringing her in for processing tomorrow though, so I guess you’ll find out then.” 

Susan hummed. “I see. Well, okay. So… how are you feeling about it?”

Susan knew well enough to know how Alex could get. “I don’t know yet. I guess we’ll see. I mean, if she’s okay or not.” 

“Well, you know. Just try to keep things cool, don’t assume that she’s going to be like Clark. At least she’s got a good excuse for why she wasn’t around, you know?” 

Alex sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. I need to just be calm, be polite, give her a chance.” 

“Atta girl. See you in the morning?” 

“Yup.”  
  
  


*****  
  


When Alex broke the news to her parents in the morning, Jeremiah seemed a bit circumspect, but Eliza was ready to whip up a very large breakfast. “Obviously we’re going to sponsor her, Jeremiah,” she scolded, pulling a foil-wrapped fillet of smoked trout out of the fridge along with the eggs and milk. 

“Well, I think we ought to at least talk to her first,” Jeremiah hedged. “I mean, I know it’s your way to take in every last stray woodland critter, but–”

“I’m gonna sponsor her,” Alex cut in. Following Eliza’s lead, she unwrapped the smoked trout and started cutting it into cubes.

Both her parents stopped and stared at her. She was oblivious for a few moments as she cut and visually measured how much more she would need. Finally, she met their stunned looks.

“Kara wants some back-home family,” she explained, “and Clark has never been real good for that... it was one thing when there was no choice but you guys for Kara, but… I’m an adult now and I’ll take legal responsibility for her if anything should go wrong.” 

She turned her attention back to the trout.

“Well,” Jeremiah said slowly, “I suppose that’s all right. I imagine she’s still going to be staying here, though?” 

Alex nodded. “We’ll keep her in the barn till she gets a grip on her powers, and then we can move her back to me and Kara’s place. She won’t be in your hair hardly at all.”

Eliza cracked several eggs and began beating them. “Have you talked with her, Alex?” 

Alex shook her head. “I haven’t. But I’m taking her for processing this morning, so I’ll have plenty of opportunity to see what she’s like. Including the formal sponsorship interview. If we don’t get along, I can always change my mind.”

Eliza smiled. “Alright, then. Bet everyone’s pretty hungry. Let’s get this breakfast going.”

So Alex peeled and cubed some red potatoes for the hash while her mother whisked the eggs, and then measured out the flour for enough biscuits to feed an army.  
  


*****

Soon after, Alex walked up the path to the barn with two large plates, piled with mountains of smoked trout hash, eggs, fluffy biscuits, and a generous dollop of grits with red-eye gravy. The smell was killing her. She’d tucked two individual quarts of orange juice under one arm and had two sets of silverware jangling in her pocket. As she drew near to the barn door, she heard Kara’s voice, reciting words she recognized.

_ “..When we first met, me and you, you thought I was common. How right you was, baby. I was common as dirt. You showed me the snapshot of the place with the columns. I pulled you down off them columns and how you loved it, having them colored lights going! And wasn't we happy together, wasn't it all okay till she showed here?" _

Kara was reading “Streetcar Named Desire” out loud. Alex remembered doing that for Kara, reading something to her so that she could just focus on the sound of Alex’s voice when she was learning to block things out and filter her senses.

Alex entered the barn, set the plates and juice down on a workbench, and then walking heavily to ladder of the hayloft, called up to her sister, “STELLLAAAAAAA!”

Kara and Astra both jumped a little. “Good lord, Alex!” Kara exclaimed.

Alex laughed a little. “Sorry. I was wondering where I’d left that.” She hadn’t seen her copy of Streetcar in ages. She must have left it in here.

Kara closed the book and chucked it at her. “Whaddya want?”

Alex ducked the flying book, then yawned. “Aw, you know,” she said, oddly cheerful. “Just figured you two scamps would be hungry. ‘Specially Dorothy over there.”

“My name is not–” Astra began to protest.

“It’s a joke, I’ll explain later,” Kara said quickly. She sniffed the air. “You and Eliza been making hash and biscuits?”

Alex nodded.

Kara sniffed again. “That’s smoked trout hash, ain’t it.”

Alex grinned. “Yeah.” She went back to the bench and retrieved the plates. She handed them up to the loft along with silverware, and then came back with two individual quarts of orange juice. “No sense bringing out glasses,” she chuckled.

Kara smiled appreciatively. “You traveling today?”

Alex wrinkled her nose. “Naw. Gonna go check up on Divo later though. Shouldn’t be long. And then that’s it. I asked J’onn for a couple of days off, so Lucy’s gonna take my local runs.”

Kara furrowed her brow. “Ain’t she a little quick on the trigger for your type of thing?”

Alex laughed. “Least of her problems. But no, she’ll be fine. Anyway, I figured I’d stay put for a couple of days, just in case you need an extra hand. Figure I’ll bring her in and get her processed after breakfast.” She looked up at the two Kryptonians, both of whom still looked absolutely shellshocked. “You all good?”

“Thanks, Alex. We’re good now, but I might need you later.”

“Thank you, Human,” Astra added. 

Alex looked at her. She tried to remember how weird Kara had been when she came out of the pod. “You’re welcome, ma’am,” she replied after a beat of silence. She glanced between them. “Alright well, I’m gonna head back to the house before Jeremiah eats all the damn hash. I’ll check on you a little later.”  
  


****

  
  


It took about half an hour for Astra to break her first large object. 

Alex was drinking coffee at the kitchen table and texting some of her cases to let them know that a different agent would be looking in on them this week, when in her peripheral vision, she saw the barn door go flying about fifty feet from its frame to land in the middle of the dirt driveway to the horses’ paddocks. 

Sighing, she set her mug down and went jogging down the front steps and up the road to where Astra stood in the barn doorway, looking horrified and holding the iron door handle in one hand. Kara was standing next to her, soothing her. 

“It’s okay, don’t worry, that stuff happened to me all the time when I was getting used to it. You’ll get used to how much force to use for ordinary things in no time.” 

Alex glanced at the door, then back at Astra. “Yeah, it’s alright. I can help Kara get that put back on its hinges.” Hands in pockets, she inspected Astra’s face. “You all right?” 

Astra nodded. “Yes, I am fine, human.” 

Alex frowned. “My name’s Alex, by the way, ma’am.”

Astra nodded in her direction. “Astra. General Astra.” 

Alex sighed. “Ma’am, I recommend you stay right there and don’t touch anything. Kara, I’m gonna need to get her to the DEO now. J’onn’s expecting us.” 

Kara nodded. “So, what’s happening exactly?”

“Well, assuming she wants to stay–”

“I do,” Astra interrupted.

“–she needs to be sponsored.” 

Kara rubbed the back of her buzzed head. “OK, I can do that.” 

“Nope.” Alex put her hands on her hips. “Resident aliens can’t sponsor other aliens.”

Kara’s eyebrows scrunched together a little. “Well, do you think Jeremiah and Eliza–”   


“I’ll do it,” Alex answered. “They’re already legally responsible for you, it’s better if I do it.” She offered Astra a forced smile. “That way you and I can spend lots of time together and get to know each other.” 

Fact was, she didn’t trust this “General” any further than she could throw her. It wasn’t personal. She’d just had enough of Kara’s cousin coming and going, raising Kara’s hopes and then dashing them. She hoped he wasn’t a representative of all of Kara’s blood family. 

Astra’s look was wary. “I look forward to it,” she said stiffly.

Kara accompanied Astra to Alex’s truck and guided her to the passenger side. Alex opened the door for her and Kara helped her get into the front seat. Then Kara slid into the back and closed the door. 

Alex climbed in the driver’s side. “Don’t touch anything,” she warned Astra. “Barn door’s easy to fix, but most things in my truck are not.” 

Astra nodded once. 

Kara babbled for a little while, not being very good at riding in silence and probably trying to continue giving Astra something to focus on. Alex, however, reached her limit at fifteen minutes and suggested, “Hey Kara, why don’t we see if the general here enjoys some country music?”

She put on the local country station she liked best, and it was playing a song she liked, Diamond Rio’s “Meet in the Middle”. Delighted, she pounded the steering wheel once and began singing along:

_ “It was seven hundred fenceposts from your place to ours _

_ Neither one of us was old enough to drive a car _

_ Sometimes it was raining, sometimes it would shine _

_ We wore out that gravel road between your house and mine _

_ I'd start walking your way _

_ You'd start walking mine _

_ We'd meet in the middle _

_ 'Neath that old Georgia pine” _

Astra closed her eyes, put her head back, and listened. The rest of the trip was quiet, filled only with good country music. 

  
  


****

  
  


The DEO location that Alex reported in to looked not much different from any other big ag facility in the area: big fields populated with softly mooing cows, big white barns, a silo, and long, narrow buildings with shiny machinery sticking out of them. Underground was another story, but the ground level, well that was pretty unremarkable.

The silo held the labs, and the ground level held the administrative offices. The ground level was where they would start their process. 

Susan Vasquez sat at one of the desks in the brightly lit, sunny office in the main barn. “Okay,” she began, with that brisk, cheerful tone that seemed to work well with most folks, “first of all, welcome, thanks for picking Earth, home of Coca-Cola, kung pao shrimp, Michelangelo and the Macarena.” She winked at Alex. “Now, I hope you’re acting right for these girls here, Alex is my very good friend from back in college, and of course, her sister is–”

“My niece.” 

Susan didn’t miss a beat. “Yep. So, as you’ve probably already had it explained, Alex is going to be your sponsor since your niece can’t, and so we’ve got a few process things that we need to go through. I’ve gotta ask you a few routine questions, then you’ll meet with our director, have an official sponsorship interview with Alex, and then the physical with Dr. B, and you’ll be all set for today.” 

Astra nodded her understanding.

“Planet of origin?”

“Krypton.” 

Susan scribbled on the clipboard. “Married?”

“Divorced.”

Susan winced. “Sorry.” 

Astra shrugged.

“Any health issues that you’re aware of?” 

“No.” 

“Any criminal record?” 

Astra hesitated. Alex bit her lip. Susan knew goddamn well that Astra had a criminal record but she still had to ask. “Suze, just check yes and put an asterisk.” 

Susan smirked. “You got it, ma’am. And… any special skills?” 

Astra looked bewildered by the question. “Marksmanship? Master level in seven different fighting styles? Leading galactic strike forces? Poetry?” 

Susan raised an eyebrow. 

“She’s got frigging superpowers, Susan, knock it off,” Alex snarked.

Susan chuckled. “Gotta ask, gotta ask. You know the drill.” 

After a few more questions, they were shuffled on to the med bay, up in the silo. 

The staff knew her well and greeted her cheerfully. Nurse Alvarez set down a stack of folders and came over and gave her a quick hug. “Alex! Look at you! You look fantastic! You haven’t been up here in a long time,  _ mamita _ . Where’ve you been?” She glanced at Astra and back at Alex. “That’s not a new one is it? She keeping you busy?” She winked unsubtly. She leaned to one side and looked over at Astra again, who was staring at her in bewilderment. “She’s my girl, alright? You hear me? You treat her right or I kick you right in the… whatever you got.”

“Whatever she’s got?” Kara repeated, laughing.

Penelope shrugged. “What? I know she’s not human so I don’t wanna presume.”

Alex flushed. “Jesus, no, Penelope, that’s Kara’s aunt! She just arrived last night, she needs a processing physical, didn’t you guys get the chart request?”

Dr. B jumped up from his computer, waving a piece of paper from the printer. “Aw, no, we got it right here.” He got up and came over, absently running a hand over his balding pate. “Gosh, another Kryptonian, real live and in my office! I never thought I’d get the chance.” 

Astra’s mouth seemed glued shut as Dr. B continued to gush. 

“Gosh,” he went on, stepping back, “and you look like you are in excellent health. Any diseases you’re aware of?”

Astra shook her head. 

“Any visits to Zemenroid Prime or Trosatica V in the last six months?” 

Astra shook her head again. 

He checked a few things off. “Good, because it’s not just the rampant plagues, people tell me the food is just…” He made a gagging face. “And, I hate to ask this question, Nurse Alvarez do you mind?” 

Penelope rolled her eyes. She leaned forward and asked, “Are you sexually active?” 

Astra blinked a few times, and looked at her in confusion. “What?”

“Are you sexually active? You know, any uh… photon torpedos in the ol’ black hole, or whatever?”

Alex couldn’t help empathizing with the pained look on Astra’s face as she shook her head. 

“We just gotta know if there’s a chance you could be pregnant,” Dr. B explained in his perpetually apologetic tone. 

Astra shook her head again. 

Kara stayed through the rest of the physical, and then Alex walked them down to a waiting area in the main barn. They’d see J’onn and then do their interview and then that’d be it. 

Kara took her phone out and was showing Astra pictures of their town, their family, and their friends. Astra was mostly staring with wide, haunted eyes and occasionally a polite smile. It occurred to Alex that she had done literally no prep with Astra for her meeting with J’onn. She pulled Kara aside. “Sorry, I just need to borrow you for a moment.” 

They stepped into a nearby empty office with a soundproofed door. “Listen, have you prepped her at all for talking to J’onn?”

Kara shook her head. “I wouldn’t know how. My situation when I got here was real different.” 

Alex sighed. “For sure it was, and I’m not sure how to explain to her what she needs to do. We’ve got to have something coherent to say about her conviction and time in Fort Rozz, because I know J’onn is gonna ask her about it.” 

Kara frowned. “Well, it’s not like he doesn’t know about being on the wrong side of a war.” 

Alex sighed. “Yeah, but… look, I know that the Council was corrupt, I know they tried to shut her up, and I know you believe, and she believes, that she did the best she could. I just… it’s real hard to spin a bombing of government buildings, you know?” 

Kara nodded. “I know.” She peered at Alex for a moment. “And what do you believe?”

“What?”

“What do you believe? You’re sponsoring her, so you must feel some kind of way about what she did. Do you believe it was the best thing she could have done?” 

Alex shook her head. “I wasn’t there. Only she knows. But I’d suggest that she blame that bombing on pressure from the ex husband, and put as much daylight as she can between her and the notion that it was a good idea.”

Alex glanced out the window and saw Ellen the Librarian standing outside, chatting with Astra and showing her something on her tablet. She shook her head. 

They walked back out into the waiting area. “Ellen, what are you doing? We haven’t finished processing her yet.” 

Ellen pushed her glasses up her nose and grinned at Alex like she did when she was just pleased as punch. “Come on, Alex. You know I always like to meet the newbies.” She thumbed in Astra’s direction. “She’s real smart!” Ellen was the DEO librarian and digital archivist, and she appreciated a big brain.

Kara snorted. “Of course, she’s my aunt.” 

“Anyway,” Ellen went on, “I came down here to tell you guys, the director got caught up with something so he’s not gonna be able to do his interview today, so why don’t you and our guest go hit the interview room and roll the tape, and he’ll watch it and schedule his meeting with her when he gets back?” 

Alex sighed. “Thanks, Ellen.” 

As they walked away, Astra gave Ellen a small nod of thanks. 

“And remember…. It’s just spelled c-i-r-q-u-e… d-u-....” Ellen was calling after them. 

Jesus Christ, Alex chuckled. Only Ellen would think that Cirque du Soleil was the first thing Astra needed to learn about on arriving on Earth.

******

They sat across from each other at a table in another sunlit room. Alex was streaming a digital recording to Ellen’s archive in the sub-basement. 

“So,” Alex began, looking at the face of the woman she was about to take responsibility for, “I have to ask you a few questions. I realize it’s been a long day, and you’re probably pretty tired, but let’s do our best.” 

“Of course,” Astra responded, seeming almost offended. 

“Do you feel that you can accept my guidance and support as you transition to life on Earth?” 

“Yes.” 

That was it. She didn’t elaborate. 

“Despite,” Alex prodded, “that I am younger than you, less experienced militarily, less traveled?” 

Astra shifted. “Human, your generosity is not lost on me. I am not an imbecile.” 

“Why do you think I’m offering to sponsor you?” 

“Because of your loyalty to my niece, I assume. You barely know me.” 

Alex nodded. “And what I do know of you is… well, it’s a mixed bag.” 

Astra placed her elbows on the table and leaned forward. “And what about you, Human? Do you feel that you can effectively give guidance to someone who is your senior and superior in every way?” 

Alex bristled at the challenge, but kept her response cool and even. “I may not be a decorated general, ma’am, but I’ve helped a lot more people in your situation than you can count.”

Astra smirked a little at this. “So you acknowledge me as superior?” 

Alex wanted to break a chair over her head. “I am not here to litigate that question at this time, General. May I remind you that in every respect, you are in my house. Now are you, or are you not, capable of taking direction and adhering to the terms that will be offered to you?” 

Astra gripped the edge of the metal table. “Of course, Human.” 

“Agent Danvers.” 

“Agent Danvers,” Astra corrected herself. 

Alex and Astra gazed at each other for a moment. Astra’s look was guarded, but also a little arrogant and aloof. Alex took a breath, and tried a different tactic. 

“You must be glad to be back with family.” 

Astra nodded. “Yes. There is nothing more important.” 

Alex smiled faintly. “Well, on that we can agree.” 

“Everything I did, I did because I wanted to keep my world alive for Kara.” 

“I understand that.” Alex softened her demeanor a little. After all, she herself had joined what was technically a black ops organization to make sure Kara would be safe. Maybe it would be good to engage Astra on something she was likely to enjoy talking about. She thought for a moment. “Tell me about those seven different fighting styles.” 

Astra launched into an explanation of each, their basis, their histories, their foundational moves. Alex listened with interest. Turned out Astra could speak like a relatively normal person if you got her talking about something she liked. They talked a little while longer, about epigenetics and biological warfare, quantum mechanics and a math game Astra used to play with Kara on Krypton. It was almost a normal conversation. 

“So,” Astra inquired, after forty minutes had passed, “do I meet with your approval?” 

Alex gave her a wry smile. “I think I can do my best to help you settle in and I sure hope that it’ll be enough for a person with your history, background and personality.” 

Astra seemed unsure of what to do with this response. “Are you accepting me or not?” 

She was a vexing individual. But Alex figured she could handle anything. And besides, it was important to Kara. “On the condition that you accept me,” she answered finally. 

Astra nodded. “It will take work on my part, but I believe so.” 

Alex snorted. “Well, thanks.” She glanced up at the clock. “Alright, we’re done here. J’onn won’t be around till later so we’ll have to come back for that interview. But I’m gonna recommend that you be officially placed in my custody.” 

They stood up and walked out. As she was shutting the door, Alex noticed that the edges of the metal table had a couple of hand-sized indentations in them where Astra’s hands had been.

“Welcome to Earth, Astra.”

“Thank you, Human.”

“My name’s Alex, dammit.”


	4. Touch Comes to Push

Astra sat on Kara’s computer in the barn, watching the videos that Ellen the human librarian had suggested to her. Cirque du Soleil, it was called. She found the dances, the costumes, and the colors mesmerizing. It vaguely reminded her of something she’d seen on Rivenlax-X at some royal reception that she hadn’t particularly wanted to attend. It had been the best part of the evening. Astra, having traveled quite a lot and Seen Things, held some envy for cultures that were comfortable with sensuality in a way that Kryptonian culture had not been.

She was not entirely pleased with the way her “interview” with Alex Danvers had gone. Most frustratingly, she had found herself unable to stop addressing her as “Human” despite knowing her name perfectly well. Perhaps she was still addled from her less than ideal flight. Perhaps the snippets of humans’ science fiction programs had mixed themselves up in her brain along with all the other cultural detritus she’d absorbed whilst taking in Earth’s languages. 

Perhaps she was uncomfortable with the motion-sick feeling in her stomach and the odd warmth in her chest when she was in the slender human’s presence. 

It was all still too much to sort out. 

Kara came bounding into the barn and flung her arms around Astra’s neck. She pulled off the noise-cancelling headphones. “Time for a little practice,” she announced cheerfully, and kissed the top of Astra’s head. 

Astra’s physical discipline was excellent, but she still appreciated a break from the enormous amount of input coming from this world. Her new senses weren’t entirely broken in. Neither was her muscle memory. “What did you have in mind, little one?” 

Kara straightened up. “Well, I thought we could try tossing around some bales of hay. See if you can get the feel for it.” 

Astra got up and followed Kara out to another barn, the one she had broken the door off of. “I see you still have not fixed the door,” she said with some dismay. 

Kara grinned. “Yeah, it’s alright. Alex’ll be here soon, maybe y’all can take it on as a group project. It’ll be a chance for you to get to know each other.” 

Astra frowned, not convinced that it was a good idea. But she walked past the pickup truck that was parked in front of the open barn, flatbed facing the doorway. “So what is the idea?” 

“Well,” Kara answered, jogging into the barn, “I’ll toss you a bale of hay, and then you toss it into the back of the truck.” 

Sounded easy enough. Astra positioned herself in the doorway, slightly crouched in a posture of athletic readiness. Kara picked up a bale of hay by the cord that was wrapped around it, and with one hand, she lobbed it easily at Astra. Astra adjusted her position, and caught it between her hands. 

It promptly burst open. The cords snapped and the yellow hay dropped in strange, compressed hanks at her feet.

Kara chuckled. “It’s okay. Better that than something important. Don’t think about grabbing it real hard, you’re just sort of… gently stopping it in its path. Use the lightest grip. Or barely any grip at all.” She picked up another one, and tossed it over in much the same way.

This time, Astra focused, and she was able to catch it without crushing it. She smiled at Kara. 

“Good!” Kara exclaimed. “Now, toss it gently into the back of the truck.” 

Holding the cord with one hand, Astra drew her arm back a little and tried to toss the bale into the back of the truck. It flew forward, clearing the truck by several feet, shot up into the sky, and disappeared somewhere into the cornfields. Astra sighed with dismay. “It will take some time to get used to this.” 

But the air, she marvelled as she took a breath. It tasted sweet, and green, and fresh. She understood why Kara loved it here. 

Kara paused with a bale of hay in hand, pulled her phone from her back pocket, read something, smiled, and spent a few moments tapping away on it with her thumb before slipping back into her pocket. 

“What was that?” 

Her niece smiled mysteriously. “Just a conversation I’m having with a friend.” 

“About what?” 

Kara chuckled. “Aw, just Earth-y stuff. It’d take too long to explain.” 

Something about the way Kara was smiling caused a question to occur to Astra. “Are you betrothed yet?”

Kara shook her head, seeming uncomfortable at the question.

“You are getting on, little one. It is past time.”

Kara smiled. “Well, it doesn’t really work like that, here. I’ll explain, I promise, but we don’t pick our partners till we’re adults.”

“And have you picked one?”

Kara shook her head. “I… there’s someone I like. I don’t know what… what’s going to come of it just yet. But I’m hopeful.” 

Astra’s heart was gladdened at the thought that her niece had a prospect. She wondered whether the prospect was human or from elsewhere. She had many questions. But her niece didn’t seem to feel moved to discuss it further at this moment, so she respected her privacy.

  
  
  


*******

  
  


Alex stood in front of Astra, hands on hips. Kara came over and hugged her. “Thanks for taking care of the door. I’ve got to run those crates of blueberries into Atlanta before they go bad.” 

Alex nodded. “That’s fine.” She hugged back. “Astra and I will have the door back up before you get back.” 

Astra and Alex both watched Kara climb into her truck and drive away. Astra couldn’t say what Alex was feeling, but Astra was decidedly ambivalent at being left alone with her human sponsor. “So… how do we begin?” she asked, once Kara’s truck was no longer visible.

Alex scratched her head. “Well, I think we put on some music.” 

“How will that help?” 

“I can’t work without music.” Alex trudged into the barn and came out with a large box with speakers in it. After a few moments of fiddling, something glorious came pouring forth; low frequencies that thumped, instruments that wailed delightfully, and a woman’s voice that sounded perfectly rough and lived-in around the edges. 

“What is that?” she gasped. 

Alex smiled. “Bonnie Raitt. Like it?” 

Astra nodded vigorously. 

“We just may get along after all, General.” 

Astra winced slightly. She was no longer a general, and should not be addressed as such anymore. Yet she felt it was necessary to maintain some sort of space and decorum with this puzzling human woman. 

Alex pointed to where the large barn door still lay face-down in the dirt several feet away from where Kara’s truck had just been parked. “Well, I’m gonna set up the ladder,” she decided, “and you should probably work on --very  _ gently _ , very  _ carefully-- _ picking up the barn door and moving it over toward the door frame. Do not rush it. Do not use one iota more force than you need. It ain’t a race.” 

In her periphery, Astra was aware of Alex pulling a ladder from the barn, dragging it outside, extending it, and propping it against the wooden face beside the doorframe. She was then aware of Alex going back into the barn and emerging a moment later wearing a thick belt festooned with what appeared to be a variety of tools. She looked, in that moment, immensely capable. Astra found herself relieved at the thought of her niece having someone so capable to look after her. 

By the time Alex had emerged with the tool belt on, Astra had determined that the best course of action was to lift the top edge of the door, and gradually move herself underneath it until she was able to find the balance point where she could lift and move it without dragging it against the ground. 

“OK, good,” Alex was saying, “I think in a couple more feet you can tip it upright and then walk it the rest of the way.” 

“Walk it?” 

“You’ll see.” 

Astra walked about ten more steps, and Alex called out, “OK, let’s get you out from under there.” 

Astra stopped, and worked herself out from beneath the door, lowering it gently to the ground. It was nearly twice her height. 

She surveyed the position of it. Alex had been correct. Now that it was near to the doorframe, it would only need to be stood up properly and then inched into position to be rehung. She did this, with some careful guidance from Alex; taking the top end, she slowly lifted the door into standing position. Alex climbed up the ladder and took hold of the edge. She muttered what sounded like a curse. “Okay, I’m gonna need you to lift it just a tiny bit. It ain’t gonna go back on the hinge otherwise.” 

It was certainly a more delicate process putting the door back on than it was taking it off. 

Astra let Alex support the door upright from her position on the ladder, and knelt down, hooked her fingers under the bottom of the door and began to lift very slowly. 

“That’s it! That’s good! Stop!” Alex called after about two seconds. 

Astra stopped. 

She remained hunkered down while she listened to Alex up on the ladder; the muttering, the clanking, the occasional swearing and whirring of a power tool or the pounding of a heavy hammer. 

“Alright, good,” Alex called after an indeterminate amount of time. “You just need to stay like that a minute longer, so that the hinge don’t break while I climb down and fasten the bottom one. Can you manage it?” 

“Of course, human.” 

She heard Alex’s little huff. 

She remained in a crouch until Alex had finished working on the bottom hinge and then announced that Astra could stand again. She walked over to where Alex was inspecting her handiwork. 

“I did not expect you to be so capable,” Astra commented. 

Alex gave her a lifted eyebrow in response. “Thanks.” Astra recognized the sarcasm in her tone.

Astra didn’t quite understand why the human did not seem pleased at the compliment. “I had not judged you as one suited to manual labor.”

“Please stop talking,” Alex said curtly.

They sat down, tired, on two bales of hay, looking at the door and listening to Bonnie Raitt for a few long, quiet minutes. 

_ “Touch comes to push _

_ Push comes to shove _

_ Shove comes to touch _

_ Touch has come to love…” _

Astra didn’t ask what the words meant. Alex seemed irritated with her. So she simply sat and enjoyed the music. “Her voice is splendid,” she commented when the song ended. 

Alex smirked. “That’s right.” For a moment, it seemed that things had relaxed between them a little bit.

Alex’s pocket made a tinkly little sound. Alex sighed and pulled her phone out of her pocket and put it to her ear. “Hi J’onn… well, not exactly…. I mean, you know. We just finished repairing a barn door that she accidentally tore off its hinges, but other than that, nothing really... Yeah, okay, I guess that’s fine.” She put the phone back in her pocket. “So, my supervisor is on his way over here, Astra. He wants to do his interview with you.” 

Astra was used to not being able to relax for very long. She frowned. “Is he the one who makes the final decision as to whether I am allowed to stay?” 

Alex sighed. “Well, not final final, but you definitely aren’t going to get to stay if you don’t convince him you belong here and that you’re not gonna be a problem.” Alex shifted and turned to face Astra. “Listen, we didn’t really get to talk about this when you came into the DEO, but… those government buildings you blew up on Krypton? He’s gonna ask about that. You need to figure out how you’re going to address the things you did that sent you to Fort Rozz.” 

“Of course,” Astra answered quickly. 

Alex rolled her eyes. “Look, don’t give me of course. I’m telling you the things you need to know. Now do you want my advice or not?” 

Astra scowled. “Naturally I want to know everything there is to know.” She thought for a moment. “What can you tell me about him?” 

  
  


******

  
  


Astra found herself sitting across Kara’s kitchen table from a serious, dark-skinned man who appeared human, but who Alex had explained was Martian. Their conversation had not been unpleasant, merely somewhat stiff and formal. 

“It looks like the Galactic Church of St. Andromeda provided your release and rehoming forms,” he was saying. “What was their determination with regard to your crimes?” 

“I committed crimes against a government that no longer exists, and that the punishment was inappropriately severe. It was my ex-husband who murdered the guard.” 

He considered her. “And what do you think? Was it inappropriately severe?”   


She smirked. “If you’re asking do you think I should have paid for my actions, of course. No-one was harmed apart from the guard my husband killed, but it was a government building. I fully expected that there would be a price. I was willing to pay it.” She leaned forward. “If you could have saved your people, even if the action would have sent you to prison, would you not have done so?” 

The Martian nodded. “Yes, well. The humans have a saying, one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. That having been said, Astra, we do have governments here on earth as well. What assurances can you give me that you won’t start blowing things up the next time you disagree with their decisions?” 

Astra scoffed. “I understand why you must ask that question, but just as you have survived the loss of your people and made a home here, I am only seeking to do the same. Kara is my only living relative. Surely you cannot support the notion of separating families.” 

“If I approve you, you’ll be kept under strict probation for a period of time. You’ll have to report in frequently. Once you’ve fully acclimated to your powers, you’ll be expected to perform a productive function in society. If the Danvers farm can’t or won’t employ you, we can assist in placing you. It’ll be a little restrictive. Can you deal with that?”

“It’s still less restrictive than the prison I’ve been in for the last several years.” 

He smiled wryly. “Then this should be a piece of cake for you.” 

“What kind of cake?” 

For reasons she didn’t grasp, the Martian just chuckled.   
  
  


*******

After the interview Kara was free to show her more of the home she'd made on this planet. Astra was shown wonders she'd never believed possible. Waters that ran clean and clear, rain that nourished the land instead of destroyed it, and vibrant growing fields that, while a different color than those on on Kyrpton, made her weep recalling memories of visiting the food biomes as a child. She was proud that her niece had taken it upon herself to become a grower. 

Later on, Kara had to take care of some errand or other for her adoptive parents. Astra didn’t know what to do with herself, and Alex, seeming disinclined to interact much, had put a laptop computer on the table for Astra. She was wandering around the Internet. It seemed to think she wanted more videos of circuses. However, with a bit of poking around on the interface, she soon located other things. A video of the music Alex had been playing while they fixed the barn. Astra was amused to see that the singer had a white streak in her hair not unlike her own. 

Soon she found a place in which people seemed to engage in text format discussions about the singer, and other singers. Soon after that, she discovered there were sites where people engaged in text format discussions about many things, including several subjects she knew nothing about. People seemed to call another trolls frequently. She did a quick search and turned up images that led her to think it was probably an insult, since she had never seen evidence of creatures on Earth that looked like the results she’d yielded.

But she was fascinated. She spent quite a long time gazing at pictures of food on a site called Pinterest. 

The next morning, after accidentally ripping the gate to the horse paddocks off of its hinges, she helped Alex make the repairs while listening to some more of that miraculous human music that thumped and twanged. Afterwards, she found herself enjoying a glorious lunch of pork chops and collard greens, sitting in the fresh air and sunshine. The only hindrance to her mood was that Alex seemed displeased with nearly everything she said.

Alex wandered over to where Kara was working on loading some crates into a truck. With her newly sensitive hearing, Astra was able to hear her say, “You need to find something for your aunt to do or I’m gonna run her over with that truck.”

She heard Kara chuckle tiredly. “Don’t do that. You’ll just make her mad, and destroy the truck.”

So Kara came jogging over and said, “Alright, let’s do some more with the hay, Aunt Astra.” They played the tossing game that they had earlier, and they loaded and unloaded the hay for the horses about half a dozen times. A couple of bales ended at the far end of the cornfield. But Astra was eager to learn, and loved that her niece was spending her life growing things from the earth. She was proud. She wanted to help.

Alex vanished for a time while this was going on.

They drove the hay out to the horses, and Kara brought her into the barn. The musky, animal smell was overwhelming. “It smells like…” She couldn’t even say what. She wasn’t sure. 

Kara laughed. “Like horses. I know.” She took Astra’s hand and led her over to one of the larger ones, a dark brown stallion with a black mane and tail. He eyed Astra with suspicion. Astra stared back at him. She’d never seen the like. 

“Majestic,” she whispered.

“Oh, yeah.” 

“And your Alex rides these beasts?” 

Kara laughed again. “Oh, sure. She’s real good with them too. Can calm ‘em down when nobody else can.” 

After this, they broke for dinner. Kara pulled together some leftover pot roast and some fresh bread she’d made with pickles from her adopted Grandmother, and made sandwiches and a giant pitcher of sweet tea. Astra ate all of it ravenously. What humans did with food, she thought wistfully. There was so much to learn. 

Kara’s pocket buzzed while they ate. She took her phone out, looked at it, and then sighed. 

Astra noticed. “Little one, what is the matter?”

Kara shrugged. “Nothing, it’s just… I’m kinda neglecting someone.”

Astra frowned. “My presence is a disturbance.”

Kara shook her head. “No! You don’t understand how happy I am to see you! I’m glad to have this time with you.” But Astra could hear that a great deal was left unspoken at the end of that.

Astra gazed at her for a moment. “Who are you neglecting?”

“Well…”

“It is not the person to whom you wish to be betrothed, is it?”

Kara laughed. “Look, I hadn’t gotten that far, Astra, I just… I like her, that’s all.”

Astra’s eyebrow barely moved. “Her?” An unexpected development. She had assumed any interest in same-sex pairings would have been socialized out of her.

Kara nodded.

“So that is done here as well. I had not expected it from what I remember of the broadcasts.”

Kara seemed a little confused by this response. “Do you… you don’t…mind?”

“Of course not.” It was clear that there was a great deal that Kara had not learned, or perhaps had simply forgotten, about the more adult aspects of Kryptonian culture. Astra poured herself another full glass of tea. “Who is she?”

“She’s in charge of a…” Kara paused, composing her thoughts. “...a large business concern, very powerful and prosperous.”

Astra waved dismissively. “Yes, but who is she? Is she clever, kind, good, beautiful, brave, strong? Fortunes come and go. It is her character that concerns me.”

Kara smiled. “Beautiful, yes. Kind, yes. Brilliant? Yes, ma’am, I’d say she’s a damn genius. I think… from what I’ve seen, anyhow… she’s got a good soul. She wants to help people. And… she thinks I’m beautiful, too, which is… well it’s weird for me.”

“Is she a suitable mate, then?”

Kara paused, looking fondly into the air. “I don’t know if I’m ready to say that, because we only just met,” she said carefully, “but… I sure think she could be. I sure think if any two people on this earth were made to love each other, it could be us.”

Astra reached across the table and gently touched Kara’s shoulder. “Then what are you doing sitting here?”

Kara gaped at her. “What?”

“Go to her. Make certain she understands your intentions.”

“You sure you’ll be alright?” 

“Alex is here. If I need anything, I can ask her for help.” She smiled at her niece. “Go. If you wish to make a mate of this woman, you are wasting time by nursemaiding your wayward aunt.” 

Kara jumped up, squeezed her tightly, and then dashed out the front door. Astra suspected she intended to fly there. She looked forward to working on that skill. 

She sat in the quiet house for a few minutes after Kara’s departure, turning the interaction over in her mind. The humans took mates of all genders. This was a surprise. 

She could not help thinking of capable Alex, the doctor, the horse tamer, the carpenter with her tool belt, and wondering what sort of mate she would be.


End file.
